Six Baylor Students, Recent Graduates Selected For Prestigious Fulbright Scholarships
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Contact: Lori Fogleman, (254) 710-6275
WACO, Texas (May 11, 2012) - Six Baylor University students and recent graduates have been selected to receive the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship - the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government - bringing the number of Baylor students and/or graduates who have received the honor since 2001 to 31.
The Fulbright Program, which is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, selects participants based on their academic merit and leadership potential. Through the program, students are provided opportunities for one academic year to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Three Baylor recipients will pursue advanced studies in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Mexico, and two Baylor recipients will serve as English Teaching Assistants, one in Russia and the other in Indonesia.
The Baylor recipients are:
Elisabeth A. Black, senior Russian/International Studies major from Dallas, who was selected for the English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Russia. (Read a Q&A with Elizabeth here.)
Rachel Cliburn, senior neuroscience major on a pre-med track from Long Grove, Ill., who will conduct research in neuropharmacology - drugs that affect the brain - through a master's degree research program in neuropsychology at the University of Maastricht, in The Netherlands. (Read a Q&A with Rachel here.)
Jackie Hyland, BA '09 in International Studies/Journalism from Houston, who was selected for the Fulbright Binational Award to Mexico City, Mexico. (Read a Q&A with Jackie here.)
Ross Natividad, BA '10 Spanish/ International Studies, master's candidate in Spanish, who was selected for an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Indonesia. (Read a Q&A with Ross here.)
Huong Nguyen, senior Medical Humanities on a pre-med track from Houston, who was selected for the Master's of Science in Health Sciences and Public Health Research program at the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland. (Read a Q&A with Huong here.)
Elizabeth A. Dratz, a May 2012 BBA graduate, who was selected for an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Turkey. (Read a Q&A with Elizabeth here.)
"These students are indeed impressive," said Elizabeth Vardaman, associate dean for special programs at Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences and the university's Fulbright representative. "At Baylor they have taken full advantage of learning languages, maximizing their education and becoming responsible citizens. Additionally, they all have proven commitments to service at home and abroad and all of them brought formidable research experiences in their fields of study to their proposals. In short, these young people are marvelously prepared to represent our university and the U.S. in memorable, wonderful ways in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Russia and The Netherlands."
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program currently awards approximately 1,700 grants annually in all fields of study and operates in more than 155 countries.
The Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which works with private non-profit organizations in the United States and with U.S. embassies and binational Fulbright Commissions abroad to administer the Program. Policy guidelines are established by the Presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship board, which also selects the recipients of Fulbright awards.
For more information about national and international scholarship opportunities available through Baylor, visit the Office of National and International Scholarships.